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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency is constantly looking for threats to the United States of America through it's use of full body scans, metal detectors... and Twitter? Time reports that the agency allegedly detained two British tourists recently after a questionable Twitter conversation. Leigh Van Bryan, 26, and Emily Bunting, 24, were surprised to be "taken aside by armed agents at Los Angeles International Airport and had their passports confiscated. They were reportedly questioned for five hours, put in a van with illegal immigrants and held overnight on suspicion of planning to commit crimes." (More)

Already 6 months around the world. Exactly 1 year ago, we were talking about the project of the
Colas' family to go around the world from July 2011 to June 2012. More than a trip, 'We Like The World' is the name of one mission: to
fund the building of a girls' school in Cambodia, thanks to the help
of their 80.000 facebook friends and friends of friends living around the
world. (More)

The Scottish government plans to only allow residents to vote in the upcoming independence referendum. Labour MSP Elaine Murray says:

"The fact is, with youth unemployment rising in Scotland, more young Scots are being forced to look outwith [sic] Scotland for jobs. It seems hugely unfair that they should be stopped from having a say in Scotland's future."

The military is an important element of pride in most modern nations.
They earmark large portions of every national budget, protect the
people, and safeguard a nation's boundaries. Many countries require
military or civic service as an important step in developing national
pride and giving back to the nation. So why is Australia recruiting
British service personnel earmarked for redundancy? (More)

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement made headlines in the USA after it started on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. An ongoing series of demonstrations against social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government from the financial services sector and lobbyists, the movement has spawned a nickname (OWS), a website (http://occupywallst.org/), a twitter feed, and growing support around the world.

The theme of "We are the 99 percent" refers to the difference in wealth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1 percent and the rest of the population. This sentiment is not unique to America in light of the worldwide economic crisis. Triggered by the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble in 2007, this led to questions regarding bank solvency and declines in credit availability. Economies worldwide slowed during this period as credit tightened and international trade declined. (More)

We are under 48 hours from the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that took place on the Untied States on September 11th, 2001. However, I wouldn't say we are 48 hours away from remembering the event. As if you could avoid the non-stop news coverage, I don't think it has left many people's minds since the attacks occurred.

The September 11th attacks, also called 9/11, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks against targets in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jets, managing to crash two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City causing both towers to collapse. Hijackers crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and in the fourth plane passengers attempted to take back control of the plane which prevented it from reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C, but did result in it's crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In total nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks from over 90 different nations. (More)

The world looks on as media outlets report that London is burning. Rioting and looting that took place over the weekend have continued and spread out from the poorer sections of London to as far away as Birmingham, Liverpool, & Bristol.

What Happened

The event appears to have started after the shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, who was fatally shot last Thursday night in North London's Tottenham Hale section. It appears Duggan was a passenger in a minicab that was stopped as part of an initiative to recover illegal guns in the area. Details remain vague, but it appears an illegal firearm was found at the scene and shots rang out, though The Guardian asserts that ballistic reports now show that all of the gunfire came from police. A peaceful protest was planned for Friday evening with the family wanting to meet with police officials to get answers, but the protester's pleas were unanswered. It was at this point that frustrations boiled over and the protests turned violent. This is the worst outbreak of social unrest in Britain in 25 years since the Broadwater Farm riots.

Though still a year away, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London is fast approaching. The Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are scheduled to take place from July 27th to August 12th and will be the 30th modern Olympic Games. London is the first city to host the games a record three times.

Around 17,000 athletes are expected to participate representing over 200 countries. An estimated 500,000 visitors will descend on the event to watch the competitions live. Over 63,000 peoples are involved in the process to make the event successful. As always, the Olympics are a world event with the eyes of many nations already upon London. (More)

The news is hard to avoid, even if you want to. Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married. Every aspect of the wedding is being broadcast to every corner of the world. Some British expats feel the pull back to lady England, while some expats in London would like nothing better than to never hear the words "royal" and "wedding" in the same sentence again.

The world has watched in horror as Japan struggles to stabilize after the catastrophic disasters of a 9.0 earthquake, massive tsunami, and possible nuclear meltdown. Japan's preparation has insulated the country from some damage, but on any scale, the 2011 To-hoku earthquake and tsunami are a diaster of mammoth proportions.
(More)